‘Quiet storm’ leads THS to playoffs

He does the talking with his bat and his glove — which is why the senior is in his fourth year on the Trinity High School varsity baseball team.

“I’ve been playing baseball ever since my mom and dad could sign me up for it,” he said. “I always had a bat or a ball in my hand.”

What attracted him to the sport?

“Even though it isn’t fast-paced, you have to know the situations and where to throw the ball,” he said. “I like the mental aspect.”

Tonight, Newcomer is looking to help his team reach the fourth round of the NCHSAA 2-A playoffs as the Bulldogs travel to face Piedmont (24-2), the No. 2 team in the state. Trinity (18-10) reached the third round for the first time in school history thanks, in a big part, to Newcomer, who went 4-for-4 against West Stokes on Tuesday in the Bulldogs’ 10-6 win.

“That’s the great thing about baseball,” Trinity coach Rob Shore said. “My number four hitter went 3-for-4 with three RBIs when we played Forbush (in the first round) and David had one hit. At West Stokes, he knew he needed to pick it up and that’s exactly what he did.”

He led off with a double and then had two more singles. When the Wildcats changed pitchers with two on and one out, the coach called on something special from the senior.

“I walked up and told him, ‘Right now, you’ve got to have your best at-bat,’ ” Shore said. “He hit the second pitch 400 feet. He crushed it. When he came around third base, he said, ‘That was my best.’ ”

The team boasts 10 seniors, but Shore calls Newcomer the team’s “backbone.”

“He’s the quiet storm,” he said.

The coach has known him long enough that he sees the calmness in Newcomer’s eyes.

“He doesn’t allow the game to affect his performance,” Shore said. “If he has a bad game, or we’re losing, David’s not the emotional type of kid. He’s that disciplined. It’s worked to his advantage.”

“I try to lead by example,” said Newcomer, who also plays basketball and soccer for THS. “I try to keep my composure on the court and off the court and on the field and off the field.”

This season, Newcomer has been forced into a different role in the batting order, which has meant his batting numbers have slipped a bit. Heading into tonight’s game, he’s averaging .357 with 25 hits, including eight doubles, and 13 RBIs.

“I was trying to find a leadoff man in the first seven or eight games and I threw David in there,” Shore said. “He’s been very successful as a lead-off. A lot of times, that means you’re hitting with the lower half of the lineup with not as many guys on base and not as many opportunities as people that bat three and four.”

Where the third baseman has shone is on the defensive side of the ball.

“Defensively, he’s one of the best infielders I’ve ever coached,” Shore said. “He makes the difficult plays seem routine. It’s such an advantage to have somebody on third base like that — who can make those throws. What he does best is take those bunts down the third-base line. There aren’t many high school third basemen who can make that play.”

And more than just the opposing batters have taken notice.

“One of the first thing the college scouts told me is he’s already a college third baseman defensively,” Shore said. “He’s making plays their third basemen aren’t able to make.”

His ability has led him to Lenoir-Rhyne, where he will, hopefully, be playing baseball next spring. The Bears fired head coach Paul Knight, leaving Newcomer’s future at the school up in the air.

“As of now, I’m 95 percent sure I’m going to end up there,” he said. “I just try to focus on what I can control. Really, the situation is out of my hands.”

What is in Newcomer’s — and his teammates’ — hands is tonight’s game against the Panthers, an unfamiliar foe with a lot of weapons.

“When you play a team two or three times a year, you’ve faced this guy before,” he said. “When you play a team you don’t know about, you can’t think and you have a clear head. It should be a challenge for us. It comes down to who gets the timely hits.”

Of course, there’s more pressing motivation for Newcomer and his fellow seniors.

“Most of us are trying to go out like it’s our last game — it could very well be our last game,” he said. “None of us want it to end. We want to leave it all on the field with no regrets.”